Ten Cents, P.I.
Ten Cents was envious of Hercules. Hercules had recently gone fishing and found the U.S.S. James on a day off, whereas all Ten Cents had found was a rusty old car sitting on a dock (go figure). "Eh, don't be so disappointed, Ten Cents!" Sunshine said. "There's always the chance to find something amazing! The next great discovery could be right around the corner!" 'Aye, Sunshine," Ten Cents groaned. "I know what's around the corner! It's that old steamer wreck near the beach!" "Well maybe that could be the adventure!" said Sunshine. "No one's been able to identify Old Rusty! Maybe you could be the first!" "All right, then," said Ten Cents. "I could do that." The next morning, Ten Cents thought about the mystery of Old Rusty. "I bet if anyone knows what caused that ol' tramper to end up in the eastuary, it's Scuttlebutt Pete," he thought. "Good morning, Star Fleet!" Captain Star yelled. "Ten Cents, you'll be helping Scuttlebutt with dredging today! Bring Pearl with you!" "Right, Captain Star!" Ten Cents called. In his mind, he thought "This is my big chance." "Aye, Ten Cents!" Pearl called. "You paying attention?" "What?" asked Ten Cents. "I mean, yes! I am! Ay, Scuttlebutt!" "Yes, Ten Cents?" "What can you tell me about Old Rusty?" "The one who's been rotting in the estuary for 2 years, or that old wreck sitting on the beach?" "The beach." "Well...to be honest, I know just about as little of Old Rusty as you do. But..." "But what?" "I can tell you that about 20 years ago, the Bigg City port lost about 6 tramp steamers during Hurricane Jade." "Oy, Ten Cents!" said Pearl. "One more dump load and I'll sink!" Ten Cents quickly stopped the dredging process. He didn't have time to learn any more about Old Rusty. He would wait until their next day off. His chance came a few weeks later. "Today's your break day, Star Tugs!" Captain Star called. "You may go do as you please in the harbor." "It's occurred to me that whenever we have a break," Sunshine said. "The Z-Stacks get most of the jobs." "Yeah, well, that's life," said Ten Cents. But he wasn't really paying much attention. He moved up towards Captain Star. "Captain Star?" "Yes, Ten Cents?" "Scuttlebutt tells me 6 tramp steamers were lost during Hurricane Jade. Do you think you could tell me about them?" "Let me check my records," said Captain Star, and he disappeared into his office. He came back a few minutes later. "The tramp steamers Coral, Cithara, and Gerald are the only tramp steamers that have been accounted for," he said. "The other three have been missing since the storm." "I see," said Ten Cents. "What were the names of the other three?" "Umm...Athena, Atlas, and Jupiter were the missing ones," he said. "Athena and Jupiter sank a little ways away from Dem Der Rocks, while the Atlas was abandoned not far from the port." "I say," said Ten Cent's skipper. "That really does narrow the field a bit." "I guess we need to go head over to the estuary to see the name on the tramper," said Ten Cents, and he turned his engines on. Unfortunately, he couldn't get very close. There were rocks everywhere, and Ten Cents didn't want to end up becoming another old rusty. "I'm gonna go swim over to the wreck," said his skipper. "Maybe we can find the remains of a name or something." He took off his shirt and swam up to the wreck. Water had damaged it greatly. "I say," he said. "I can make out the outlines of an 'A' on the side." "That's it!" Ten Cents cried. "We've found the Atlas!" The other tugs soon joined him at the site. "By the looks of it," said O.J. "The crew abandoned Atlas during the storm, and left it to drift, and the storm must've blown it here." "I must say," said Top Hat. "This tramper wasn't necessarily sanitary, was he?" "For goodness sake!" everyone groaned. "I guess there's an adventure waiting to be found just around the corner, eh, Ten Cents?" Sunshine whistled. "Yeh," said Ten Cents. "No matter where you turn, there's always something to do in the Bigg City." Category:Story